This month marks an important milestone for J&S Automotive, as they celebrate 35 years in business.

J&S is a family owned business and one of the leading wholesale automotive component distributors in Ireland, offering a range of leading brand names, backed-up by an efficient and knowledgeable staff. It is a company that has grown steadily throughout its history, building and maintaining strong customer relationships and having a proactive approach to a changing aftermarket.

Most successful companies start from humble origins and J&S Automotive is no exception. Joe Gaynor, now J&S Automotive Managing Director, was one of the founders of the J&S Motor Factor business in 1977, originally based in Rathmines. The factor business proved very successful and eventually split into two strategic Dublin locations, in Dun Laoghaire and in the North Strand. The north side premises, J&S Auto Part Distributors at the Five Lamps, also took on a wholesale distribution role.

It was in the late 1980’s that the business began its transformation from busy local motor factor, to major international wholesale distributor, a transformation based very much on the imagination and foresight of Joe. He had recognised that Japanese car marques had taken the majority of Irish new car sales and that imported second hand Japanese vehicles were also making a huge impact on Irish roads. European aftermarket parts manufacturers at the time, had only limited interest in servicing this market, because of the minority role Japanese vehicles played in most major European countries.

Joe took the bold decision to source and import parts direct from Japan, to satisfy the needs of the Irish market. In today’s age of internet and e-commerce, this may not sound like a major undertaking, but back in the 1980’s this was a very innovative move. It meant lots of visits to Japanese suppliers, late night phone calls and red hot fax machines, but eventually Joe and his team, were able to source a broad range of parts for the huge Irish Japanese car parc.

The sourcing model that Joe developed, was later adopted by many other parts distributors, both in Ireland and the UK, but it was very much J&S that pioneered the development of the type of supply network for Asian vehicles that we now take for granted. Building on its success in the Asian components sector, J&S Automotive has since gone on to represent many leading Asian origin and European origin aftermarket brands.

While Joe still has a strong guiding influence on the company, his son Alan Gaynor now plays a key role in developing the company and managing its day to day operations. 35 years on, J&S Automotive is one of the great home grown success stories of the Irish aftermarket and with its modern progressive approach, it will no doubt continue on its successful path for many years to come.